In the bed of technology

It boggles my mind to see so many of our institutions that have not fully embraced the communication technology of today.
From political parties that have half baked websites to our basic institutions not being linked. This is a long post sorry....no I am not sorry for its length as I have edited it down already. It's length corresponds directly to my level of frustration.

Here are three examples of how poorly the information highway is being riden by who we think are people in the know:

January 28th 2010 Saskatoon Saskatchewan.
I am working out of my home province of Alberta in Saskatchewan for a company based out of Ontario.
I am contracted to work at a Home Depot for three days actually nights. The final hours of the job has a young fellow and myself disposing of old cabinets. Without going into more detail through an avoidable accident I ended up fracturing my heel.
Fast forward to February 2nd, I am back in Alberta sitting in my GP's office and he is telling me that he doesn't know what is happening with a compensation claim, hasn't a clue as to what to do.
OK so he doesn't know which provincial compensation board is going to be handling my case and therefore is going to have to charge me directly for the visit. I am angry not at him really but at the inefficiency of the system. A system that regularly cries out that it has not enough funds to operate. This is for both the Workers Compensation Board and Alberta Health Care. Let me explain further.
While in Saskatoon three or four xrays were taken and on the note given by the surgeon it said "patient should have follow up with orthopedic surgeon in home town/province". I am not sure why the GP did not book an appointment on Feb 2nd for a visit to the surgeon, instead I was to come back on the 8th of February to his office with additional xrays taken on the 8th of Feb and at that time he would book an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. This was done and on the 16th of Feb I went to see the orthopedic surgeon who wanted xrays taken.
Is it just me or is this a train wreck? I have now had a total of 8 xrays and at least one visit to the GP which was unnecessary.
Here is how this should go in a world where we can have billions of dollars transferred to the other side of the planet and distributed in various accounts in the blink of an eye. The report made in Saskatoon is signed off by the patient so the information is now in a national database. The information is now legible unlike the scribble on a piece of paper complete with letter head that had to be deciphered by the GP.
The initial xrays are there for the GP to confirm the condition and now can make out a work order for an orthopedic surgeon. The flap as to who is going to pay for any compensation has been taken care of at the initial reporting of the accident, enough of the guessing game which I have to go through on the phone in regards to who I should report this to. When I was admitted to the hospital the report filed was one stating that it was a work related injury. That is good enough send the report through and someone in WCB Saskatchewan should handle it as it will be flagged as a out of province claim.
When I get home to see my GP he clicks the file and low and behold the xray and surgeons report are there and I am into seeing the surgeon in Alberta who can access the initial report and if he feels it's needed make an order for a current xray. Costs are lessened and equipment freed for use by other patients.

My heel is fractured and ankle injured couple this with a knee, back and shoulder that are in rough shape I have decided to embark on pursuing a new vocation. Where should a person look to do this?
I pick education to ultimately give me accreditation in something which I would find rewarding.
To get that education should be a rather simple process once a person has found what it is that they would feel comfortable doing. Comfortable can have as broad a meaning as you would like.
I was confident as I read the course description, as I have only gr9 in a conventional school and a GED for my gr12, that I met the requirements for admission to Keyano college.
From what I read on the website I needed to obtain transcripts for my GED and from SAIT a college which I had attended back in 1988.
Of course I would need the application form but it was online so printing it was no problem. I was so pleased that everything could be taken care of online.
Well not really, it took no less than 4 phone calls to various folk to figure out the vaguerities on the request for transcript related to my GED. Another two phone calls to get the info needed to get my transcript from SAIT.
But it was done my cheques were written and went with the request forms for transcripts and my completed admission application. I could rest easy as I was sure according to the info on the Keyano website I would be accepted.
I wait for one week, then into the middle of week two I give a call to Keyano college and talk to the office of the registrar.
Now you'd think that an office which deals with admission applications would know the process that an application goes through to be granted or denied not off the top of their head but at least have the info accessible to them. Not the case the lady on the line said"I will have to get Sherry to call you back she will tell you the status of your application, it will be awhile cause she is on lunch break" the afternoon went by then the sun rose to mark a new day and I waited. Now I am a patient person 90 percent of the time but I was not going to let Whatshername take off to a 4 hr lunch again leaving me with no more information than the day before.
I call the registrar and go over the same ground with the same clerk as the day before and as luck would have it Whatshername was in and would take my call. lets call her Sherry just for kicks, "Good morning Sherry I am Gordon and have put in an application almost two weeks ago and I know by the cancelled cheque that you folks have received it but I have not received a conformation of any sort could you tell me the status of the application?" "It seems we are waiting for your High School grade 12 transcript showing a passing grade in English." I was still calm but starting to feel the blood going to my face. "Sherry I have had Alberta Education send you my GED transcript and they have sent me a letter confirming that it has been sent" "Oh yes we have that" now I am getting confused and irritated. In a steady voice I ask "So what seems to be the problem, I know my marks are high in English" "Yes but we count a GED as equivalent to a gr10" Even though I wanted to scream and rant I held myself back as much as possible. "Sherry I do not understand as the requirments in the course description notes a GED as valid, not to mention I am 52 years old and could likely write circles around most of your current students coupled with the fact that I have been through a reputable college which demanded a higher level of skill in reading and writing!" "Could you come to Ft. Mac Murray to take an entrance exam?" I wanted to say something very blue such as RU out of UR fucking mind!!!!
You have to realize that Ft. Mac is an 8 hour drive from where I currently live. No instead I simply said "No I cannot and if this seems to be a problem then I will gladly apply at another college who needs the funds which I will bring to the institution. I have to say sherry that I have had the same problem with your college a few years ago where your staff seemed to know not a wit about what was needed to enter into another coop course of study and this is becoming tiresome!" My voice had not become slurred with rage but I hoped was strong and right. It must have been as the woman said she would look into this and call back within the morning. 15 minutes later I took a call from Sherry in which she said they would send the exam to an invigilator but I would have to find one and get back to yet another person who has my file on her desk to tell her who was overseeing my test.
Fair enough, or is it. If the course offered at Keyano college were offered anywhere else in North America I would have applied there. As I have hinted I suffered the lack of knowledge and communication of this college once before and indirectly it led to a severe case of depression simply because of the inability of the people who should be able to guide you through the process not being able to do so.
How does this relate to the technology that we have at our disposal?
A website that is inaccurate and vague when there is no need for either. An insistence on using hard copy snail mail to respond to an application when the college has asked twice for my email address.
A matter of sour grapes, not at all!
I have made bad choices in the past ie: leaving school too early but rectified that by what Alberta Education had told me was an Equivalent of grade 12 and then proceeded through a college in an arts program receiving my diploma yet somehow could still have inadequate skills in comprehension and general English.
Instead of sour grapes it is a case of total confusion on my part as to how this is in anyway logical or efficient.

Because of this free time involuntarily sequestered at my home I decided to look into the various political parties that are active in Alberta. These are organizations who you would think would want to make available the ideas and policies of there parties known to the voting public.
This should be especially true of a fledgling party such as the The Wild Rose Alliance. I wanted to find out if indeed they had any NEW ideas to build their platforms on. I go to a website and it of course has the sales pitch which has nothing of substance just rhetoric and points made in regards to the strategies that their platforms are built on. I wanted to know more so I dutifully went to the "contact us" icon expecting to write a quick email requesting more information.
Oh but no that icon to contact them is reserved for members of their party. I am not about to pay for a membership in order to have communication. So another list of representatives for my riding. Now the question would be what riding am I in?
I have had the same problem with the current leaders of the legislature.
I had signed an online petition and sent it to who I thought was my representative only to get a reply from that office that indeed I was not in the riding that this person represented. What advice was given to me by this office mistakenly contacted? Was it the email address of the rep that I should contact? Was it an offer to forward the petition to the proper person? No just a comment that I was not in that riding and should send it to the member that was representing my riding. Pray tell which one would that be?
could they possibly have a search feature when a postal code is entered it would give you the addy of the riding office for my area?
Not a chance. So it is the same with the fledgling party a great long list of ridings and email addresses for the same. Okay so not a search feature, how about a map with the ridings marked on it?
If in fact there is some sort of way to find the appropriate riding office it is not clear enough.
At this point I vowed that I am going to vote for the first party that actually uses the tool of what we call the internet rather than being a tool on the internet.